Chicken with a broken pelvis.

Hi all.

I just need a little advice from all you chicken guru's out there as this is my first flock which I have raised from chicks so they are very precious to me.

One of my hen's broke her pelvis on Christmas Eve. I'm not sure how but my Rooster can be a little rough so I'm blaming him! I brought her inside to keep her warm and the vet has prescribed Metacam daily which she loves. She's continued eating freely and since I didn't think she would pull through I have been spoiling her with her favourites. She would only take water through a syringe which I administered throughout the day to keep her hydrated. She has now taken over my spare bedroom since this is the warmest room in my cottage. She has had regular showers since she was getting messy due to being unable to walk and she loves the hairdryer on her bits! Strange chicken!

I've left her as much as possible to encourage her bones to fuse and this week she started trying to sit up so I started some light physiotherapy. She can now stand on both legs and take small steps so tends to spend the day on the spare bed before flying from the bed to her roost box when it's time for bed.

Today she has been drinking from an aerosol lid by herself and eating loads. She has also been preening herself for the last couple of days.

Tomorrow I shall stop her meds to see how she gets on but was wondering if now would be a good time to move her down to one of my workshops so she can adjust to no central heating? Is there anything else I can do to help her in her recovery? I'm also wondering if there is anything I can do stop her being bullied when I reintroduce her to the gang?

Any advice would be wonderful since I am new to the world of chickens............ Joanne

It sounds like you have done a good job helping her heal her hip. Did the vet confirm a fractured pelvis with an Xray, or was it just assumed? Sprains and broken bones can take several weeks to heal. I have heard the higher up on the leg the injury, it may or may not heal well. I would slowly start putting her in cooler rooms, and when you are starting to put her back in the coop, I would use a wire dog crate to keep her and the flock familiar, but apart. You might use a heat lamp over her if the temps are frigid for a couple of days, but heat lamps can be dangerous and start fires, so be careful. After she has been around the flock for a week or two, you can then try visits outside with them together, but supervised. Good luck, and I hope she gets well.

Thanks for all the advice Eggcessive.
The xray showed a nice clean break on her pelvis at which point the vet offered to put her down for me. Since she was eating and drinking and continually telling me off I thought I would give her a chance. I've had her from being a 3 week old chick. I may not know much about chickens as this is my first flock but I used to be a nurse so applied my knowledge of patient care to her and it worked. Phew!
She is presently living in my spare bedroom and gets herself in and out of her roosting box during the day and started flying about today so I am going to move her down to my workshop at the weekend whilst she learns to live without central heating. It's the size of a barn so she'll be fine in there. I already have a mobile metal pen which I'm going to set up next to the other chickens coop as you suggested. They can look at each other then without attacking. We are all on lock down in the UK as per DEFRA guidelines but once that's lifted I shall let my girls out to free range and introduce Ginger back into the flock. At least if the flock turn on her she'll have somewhere to run and get away!
Thank you once again....... Joanne

You're welcome. Please give us another update later on to let us know how she is getting along.